Not Alone
by Phanstarlight
Summary: 'He was so different now; so cold, so distant. Phoenix was determined to figure out why' Edgeworth was innocent, Phoenix was sure of that. Set during Turnabout Goodbyes. Implied Narumitsu.


**Loosely inspired by the song Not Alone by Red. Sadly, I do not own the rights to any of the Ace Attorney games. Enjoy!**

He could see it in his eyes. No matter what words of denial came from his mouth, Phoenix knew Edgeworth needed- and possibly even wanted- his help. It was obvious he was hiding something, but what that something was Phoenix had no idea. He was so different now; so cold, so distant. Phoenix was determined to figure out why. After everything Edgeworth had done for him in the past, he couldn't just leave him here helpless. And despite what he told himself, Phoenix knew some part of him missed Edgeworth. He missed his friend; the one person who had helped him when no one else believed him, one of the few friends he ever had as a child. He needed to get to the bottom of this, and not just for the sake of courtroom battle. He knew his friend was hiding inside this man in front of him, he just had to find the one thing that would make him cast away his mile-high walls and let Phoenix in again. So he did, but he never dreamed he would find what he did. As a child, he had no idea why Edgeworth left him. All he was ever told was 'Something very bad happened, so Miles has moved away now'. At the time, he had resented every adult who told him that, wishing they would treat him better and tell him the truth about where his friend had gone. But now, as Phoenix looked down at the file in front of him, he saw very clearly why no one had told him the truth. So, of course, he instantly returned to Edgeworth. After all these years of not knowing anything, Phoenix was desperate to find out everything he could. As his questions flowed, he began to notice a little crack in Edgeworth's mask. It was small and barely noticeable if you didn't know what to look for. But Phoenix caught a few glimpses from that crack; a few small drops of his true friend. It was then that Phoenix was determined to do everything he could to clear Edgeworth's name. It didn't matter what he did or how he did it, he just knew that if there was even the smallest chance of having his friend returned to him, he had to do everything in his power to make that happen.

Manfred Von Karma was a man to be feared, Phoenix knew that. Within in seconds that man already had the whole court in the palm of his hand. But Phoenix was not phased. His only thought was of Edgeworth. His friend was not guilty; no matter what evidence Von Karma threw at him, he knew that Edgeworth could not kill a man- neither his childhood friend nor the man standing in front of him. So, he fought like he had never fought before, with every second drawing a more confusing case than the last. He almost managed to convince them it was not Edgeworth that killed that man through the evidence provided from the murder weapon. But Von Karma was too strong, he would not give in so easily. Without Mia by his side, Phoenix felt almost hopeless. But of course he was not alone; even when he thought there was no chance of him pulling through, Maya pulled him back up again and reminded him that Edgeworth was innocent and that was all that mattered. The further he dug down, the less clear the case got. Everything seemed so unrelated but he knew they had to connect together somehow. This case now, and the case fifteen years ago...

No matter how hard Phoenix tried, Von Karma would not give up. Every time that man came out with something new, Phoenix felt the desperate urge to turn around and look at Edgeworth. He didn't know why, it wasn't like Edgeworth could actually help him. Just something about seeing his face filled Phoenix with desperation. He was innocent, no matter what people said. His life was in his hands and he could not afford to mess anything up. So, he kept fighting. He continued pushing blindly forward, praying that soon the light of hope would shine on the pitiful blackness of this case. Eventually that light did shine, bright and clear and, oddly enough, in the shape of Larry Butz. But just as Edgeworth's name was cleared, Phoenix turned around to smile at his friend only to find he was not there. He was stood on the witness stand, declaring himself guilty of murdering his father fifteen years ago. And as he said those words, every drop of joy shattered in Phoenix's heart. But that broken feeling would not last because, as Edgeworth explained his confession to the court, everything became blindingly clear to Phoenix. Finally, everything fell into place; the DL-6 case, the death Edgeworth's father, Edgeworth leaving him, Edgeworth becoming a prosecutor, the case now on trial. Everything clicked perfectly together. So, Phoenix prepared himself to fight once more. But he did not miss the look on Edgeworth's face. It was a mix of guilt, fear but also hope- a strange thing to see on the man's mask. But as Phoenix threw everything he could at Von Karma and the Judge, he came to realise that the emotions he had seen were not part of Edgeworth's mask. For he no longer wore such a mask. Edgeworth had allowed Phoenix to see him, the true him. And to Phoenix, nothing else mattered. So he fought and he won; proving Edgeworth innocent once more and convicting Von Karma for the true criminal he was.

They celebrated; of course they did. As they sat together in that cheap little diner, Phoenix noticed two things. The first was that they were a very strange group of- dare he call them- friends; a defense attorney, a spirit medium, a prosecutor who had just been on trial for murder, a homicide detective, and a guy who sold hot dogs by a lake who just so happened to be a childhood friend of both said defense attorney and said prosecutor. The second thing Phoenix noticed was the smiles. Everyone was smiling. Maya giggled in between bites of hamburger, Larry laughed loudly at Gumshoe's horrible jokes, Gumshoe offered smiles to everyone around the table and, despite everyone telling Edgeworth to 'loosen up and smile a little', Phoenix knew that Edgeworth was already smiling. Maybe not with his mouth but with one look into his eyes Phoenix could see that he was positively beaming. Even as a child, Edgeworth had never smiled much with his lips but that did not mean for one second that Edgeworth did not smile at all. So, as everyone talked and laughed around the table, Phoenix slid his hand under the table and intertwined his fingers with Edgeworth's. At first the other man tensed, unsure of what to do. But as Phoenix turned his head to look at him, his heart was smiling at Edgeworth.

And Edgeworth's heart was smiling right back.


End file.
